The Three Point Play 05.13.08: Celtics Still Winless on the Road, Plus the Spurs and Hornets Win at Home

Posted by Blake Lovell on 05.13.2008

By the look of things right now, maybe we should go ahead and give Detroit the NBA Championship. Because they are the only ones who can win on the road. The Celtics are still trying to find a way to win outside Boston this postseason, and Kobe is trying to get his back to stop hurting. It's all in this edition of the Three Point Play!

Hello everyone and welcome to another exciting playoff edition of the Three Point Play. We can definitely tell that the playoffs are officially on, because things are starting to get very intriguing. It's still a race to see who can win on the road, with the Pistons being the only team that has done it so far in this Semi-Final Round. If you think about it though, it's easy to understand. This is the playoffs. As Kevin Garnett said, this isn't the preseason, this isn't the playground, and this isn't the regular season. This is the playoffs. These games take an emotional toll on everyone, and maybe that's why the home teams continue to win. With a packed house each game, the fans can obviously make a difference between a win and a loss. But again, the players are the ones that ultimately decide the outcome of the game. Sooner or later, one of these teams has to get a win on the road (again, excluding the Pistons, as in my eyes, that series is already over). If you're a professional basketball fan, this is most exciting time of the year, as this is when games really get heated and intense. A lot is on the line, and we're in for some great games to round out the Conference Semis. With that said, let's get down to business.

1. Cleveland, We Have Lift-Off

Was Lebron's dunk towards the end of the fourth quarter nasty or what? That guy was absolutely feeling it, and not even Kevin Garnett could stop him. And once again, the entire Celtics couldn't get enough stops to win a game on the road. While this game wasn't a great game if you are into offense, it was a very good defensive battle from the very beginning. Maybe the reason these guys couldn't hit a shot at times is because of their hard play on defense, as it was difficult for anyone to get any easy buckets. But that's playoff basketball for ya. The Cavs protected their home court like they had to do, and now the series shifts back to Boston with a lot on the line. Lebron had a good game, and even hit some jumpshots, which has been quite rare in this series thus far. Daniel Gibson hit a big shot down the stretch to put the Celtics away for good, as the home fans surely added some much needed energy to the building, and helped the Cavs keep the Celtics winless in the 2008 playoffs away from Boston.

The Celtics Big Three were nowhere to be found in the fourth quarter, as they combined for six points which really was the difference in the outcome. I just don't know how the Celtics plan on fixing this road problem, as it has had to have reached their memory by now. They can say they don't think about, but I guarantee you they do. This was the best team on the road in the regular season, yet they cannot figure out how to get the job done so far this postseason. But a home game seems to cure all problems in this Semi-Final round, so luckily for them, they get to go back home for Game 5. However, just like all the other series with the exception of the Pistons-Magic, the team with the home-court advantage still has the advantage until someone wins on the road. Boston just better hope Lebron returns to bad shooting form when he enters the arena, because they don't want him going off on them in Game 5. The Cavs clearly have some confidence after winning these last two games, so it'll be interesting to see how this series goes from here.

2. The Champs Are Here

In a pattern that has held form so far in the Western Conference, the home team won once again as the Spurs dominated the Hornets in Game 4 to send the series back to New Orleans tied 2-2. Now this was the kind of Spurs we are used to seeing. They pretty much took control of the game from the get-go, and undoubtedly sent a message to the Hornets. The Spurs didn't look like they were the least athletic team on the floor as they did in New Orleans the first two games, but instead they looked like a rejuvenated team with something to prove. After all, these guys are the defending champions. And playing like they have in the last two games, they could very well make a run for another championship. Tim Duncan has been much more effective recently than he did in the first couple games, but his nagging injuries probably had something to do with that. And let me say this. Since Bruce Bowen was assigned to guard Peja Stojakovic, Peja has been a non-threat to the Spurs. Bowen is showing why he could very well be the best defender in the league, as he has put the lockdown on the hot-shooting Stojakovic.

But now we have to turn out attention to Game 5. I keep talking about how I think the Spurs are the still the favorites, however it's hard to justify that given the road woes that the teams in the Western Conference have faced so far. The Hornets still have the home-court advantage, so I guess at this point in time, they are still the favorites. Someone has to win on the road in order for the series to change course. It seems like the Spurs have gotten back on the right track, so it certainly wouldn't surprise me to see them go into New Orleans and pick up a win, but until they actually do it, it's hard to say for sure if that will happen. Chris Paul will surely cause the Spurs fits just like he did in San Antonio, as he continues to be absolutely great for his team. The Parker-Paul matchup has not disappointed four games into this series, and it will surely get even more exciting now that there is a whole lot more on the line. As for David West, he definitely had some struggles in San Antonio, but I look for him to rebound and have a much better performance in New Orleans. This is when the playoffs get fun. These are arguably two of the best teams in the entire NBA, and one of them is two losses away from going home. Should be an exciting Game 5.

3. Heading Back to L.A.

Now this was the kind of series I was expecting between Utah and Los Angeles. Game 4 was a great basketball game, although it's hard to figure out how the Jazz almost blew that lead. But what matters is that they found a way to win in overtime, and now send the series back to Los Angeles all tied up. Coming into the series, I really felt like the Jazz could win the series, but wasn't really sure how they would respond after getting down 2-0. They came back and did what they had to do by winning the two games in Utah, and are actually sitting in a pretty good spot right now. Carlos Boozer has sort of regained his confidence, and hasn't had to worry a whole lot about foul trouble in the last couple games. Mehmet Okur is shooting the ball as well as he has all season right now. Deron Williams is continuing to emerge as one of the young stars in the league. And even Kyle Korver is getting in on the action, as he shot the ball well in that game. These guys are going to have to continue to play at this level if they want to have a chance of advancing to the Western Conference Finals for a second straight year.

As for the Lakers, Kobe was clearly not Kobe after the back injury, as he sort of had to resort to old habits to try and get the job done. A lot of talk has been about how Kobe's teammates hung him out to dry, and put all the pressure on him. I don't entirely agree with that, as I think guys like Lamar Odom were having great games, but Kobe tried to do a little more than he needed to do. Phil Jackson didn't seem to happy with it either. Although I think Kobe totally should not have put the ball up 30+ times, I can understand why he did it. His team was struggling so he was pressing a little bit. And when you're the MVP like he is, he's going to have times where he tries to do way too much, and Game 4 in Utah just happened to be one of those times. Of course the bigger question now is the extent of this injury, and how that will affect him in the future games.

Say what you want, but all the pressure now has shifted from the Jazz to the Lakers. The Lakers have to protect their home court, because if they don't, they have to go back to Utah in a must-win situation. And nobody wants to go to Utah in a must-win situation. It's not a good spot to be in at all. However, as we mentioned with the Spurs-Hornets series, somebody has to win on the road. If Utah wants to win this series, they have to win on the road. It's just logic. They can't win the series unless they win a game in Los Angeles. The Jazz have the ability to do it, but we'll see how things turn out. If they can continue to shoot the ball well from the perimeter, they can beat anybody. They proved that in the regular season. But relying too much on the outside shot may eventually hurt them if they are having an off night. And they certainly don't want that off night to happen in Game 5.


THE BONUS

- Take your pick here. Which team will be the first one to win on the road here in the Semi-Finals? Boston, Cleveland, San Antonio, New Orleans, Los Angeles, or Utah?

- Also, I'd like to hear from the Knick fans out there about the D'Antonio hiring. At the present, it doesn't look like a great move for him, but if Donnie Walsh can get some new talent in there, he can possibly turn that thing around.

- Does Baron Davis return to Golden State next year? I can't really see him returning given the way the season ended for him. He can test the free-agent market, and I think he'll do so.

That's all for this edition of the Three Point Play. Tune in next time for more coverage as the playoffs are really starting to heat up.